Experts are still keeping an eye out for any potential upcoming strong seismic activity that could shake the entire Eastern US after 11 recent earthquakes shook regions from Illinois to Arkansas.
Another significant earthquake powerful enough to rattle the entire area of the Eastern United States is still imminent in the New Madrid Seismic Zone, which is still active.
11 Earthquakes
11 earthquakes have rattled the Mississippi River region from southern Illinois into northeastern Arkansas over the last 10 days. The earthquakes struck in Illinois, Tennessee, Missouri, and Arkansas, with the most recent striking near McClure in southern Illinois Nov 18. Earthquakes have ranged in magnitude from 1.2 to 2, as seen in the list by USGS below.
New Madrid Seismic Zone
Although no one is certain of the exact timing, experts predict that the violent history of the NMSZ will repeat itself.
As noted by experts, December 16 marks the first of three significant quakes that hit the United States during the winter of 1811-1812, a violent period in the region's seismological history that scientists predict will happen again.
Northeast Arkansas was shaken by a strong 8.1 earthquake on December 16, 1811, at around 2:15 am in what is now the New Madrid Seismic Zone. People in cities like New York City, Charleston, SC, and Washington, DC were jolted out of their beds by the earthquake, which was felt throughout much of the eastern United States. In hard-hit areas of the quake, like Nashville, Tennessee, and Louisville, Kentucky, the ground shook for an unbelievably long one to three minutes.
Historic Quakes in the New Madrid Zone
Between December 16, 1811, and March 18, 1812, there were over 2,000 earthquakes recorded in the central Midwest, with 6,000-10,000 of them occurring in the Missouri "Bootheel," which is the location of the New Madrid Seismic Zone.
A few weeks later, on January 23, 1812, in Missouri, the second main shock struck. The third, with a magnitude of 8.8, occurred along the Reelfoot fault in Tennessee and Missouri on February 7, 1812.
According to New York News, Mississippi Valley residents claimed that lit lamps did not help illuminate the area during the powerful quakes because the skies had grown so dark; they also claimed that the air smelled terrible and was difficult to breathe. According to scientists, warm water molecules erupt into the cold winter air combined with dust particles rising to the atmosphere from the ground to create this "earthquake smog." The aftermath was a steamy and dusty cloud that shrouded the earthquake-affected areas.
Mississippi River boaters reported that the flow of water there temporarily reversed after the February earthquake because it was so strong.
The region is still seismically active, and scientists predict that at some point in the future it will experience another powerful earthquake.
Read also: Strong Earthquakes in California Came After Magnetic Field Changes, Study Shows
Unrelated 40 Earthquakes in South Carolina
Sadly, the science is not yet developed enough to predict whether that threat will materialize in the coming week or fifty years. In any case, there could be a sizable loss of life and property when another major earthquake strikes here in the future because the population of the New Madrid Seismic Zone is enormous compared to the low and scattered population during the early 1800s. Tens of millions more people live in an area that would potentially experience significant ground shaking.
According to Weatherboy, There doesn't seem to be any connection between the recent increase in activity near the New Madrid fault and the ongoing swarm of earthquakes in South Carolina. Central South Carolina has experienced more than 40 earthquakes since December 2021, with several stronger earthquakes recently felt and recorded. According to scientists, the distance between the earthquakes in the New Madrid region and those in Elgin, South Carolina, is too great for them to be connected.
USGS List of Earthquakes Illinois to Arkansas
According to the USGS Latest Earthquakes interactive map, (as of November 21) the following details show the earthquakes listed in areas from Illinois to Arkansas for the past 10 days:
- Nov 21 at 9:03, Magnitude 1.24, 4 km WSW of Ridgely, Tennessee
- Nov 21 at 05:44, Magnitude 1.81, 3 km SW of Ridgely, Tennesse
- Nov 18 at 18:32, Magnitude 1.17, southeastern Missouri
- Nov 18 at 11:13, Magnitude 2.04, 3 km SSW of McClure, Illinois
- Nov 17 at 07:38, Magnitude 1.74, 4 km WSW of Ridgely, Tennessee
- Nov 17 at 05:10, Magnitude 1.48, 4 km ENE of Lepanto, Arkansas
- Nov 16 at 08:27, Magnitude 1.72, 2 km ESE of Lilbourn, Missouri
- Nov 16 at 04:13, Magnitude 1.54, 5 km SE of Marston, Missouri
- Nov 15 at 13:57, Magnitude 1.73, 7 km SW of Tiptonville, Tennessee
- Nov 13 at 22:36, Magnitude 1.7, 1 km NE of Marston, Missouri
- Nov 13 at 14:11, Magnitude 1.75, 3 km W of Tiptonville, Tennessee
Related article: Seismic Activity on the San Andreas Fault Are Linked to Changes in the Earth's Magnetic Field